Amplified Bible (AMP)

The Offering of Isaac

1 Now after these things, God tested [the faith and commitment of] Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he answered, “Here I am.”

2 God said, “Take now your son, your only son [ofpromise], whom you love, Isaac, and go to the region ofMoriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

3 So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and then he got up and went to the place of which God had told him.

4 On the third day [of travel] Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

5 Abraham said to his servants, “Settle downandstay here with the donkey; theyoung man and I will go over there and worship [God], and we will come back to you.”

6 Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid iton [the shoulders of] Isaac his son, and he took thefire (firepot) in his own hand and the [sacrificial] knife; and the two of them walked on together.

7 And Isaac said to Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Isaac said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

8 Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himselfa lamb for the burnt offering.” So the two walked on together.

9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood, and bound Isaac his son and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood.

10 Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife tokill his son.

11 But theAngel of the Lordcalled to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He answered, “Here I am.”

12 The Lordsaid, “Do not reach out [with the knife in] your hand against the boy, and do nothing to [harm] him; for now I know that you fear God [with reverence and profound respect], since you have not withheld from Me your son, your only son [of promise].”

13 Then Abraham looked up and glanced around, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering (ascending sacrifice) instead of his son.

14 So Abraham named that placeThe LordWill Provide. And it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the Lorditwill be seenandprovided.”

15 TheAngel of the Lordcalled to Abraham from heaven a second time

16 and said, “By Myself (on the basis of Who I Am) I have sworn [an oath], declares the Lord, that since you have done this thing and have not withheld [from Me] your son, your only son [of promise],

17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies [as conquerors].

18 Through your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have heardandobeyed My voice.”

19 So Abraham returned to his servants, and they got up and went with him to Beersheba; and Abraham settled in Beersheba.

20 Now after these things Abraham was told, “Milcah has borne children to your brother Nahor:

21 Uz the firstborn and Buz his brother and Kemuel the father of Aram,

22 Chesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph and Bethuel.”

23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight [children] Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.

24 Nahor’sconcubine, whose name was Reumah, gave birth to Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah.

Death and Burial of Sarah

1 Sarah lived a hundred and twenty-seven years; this was the length of the life of Sarah.

2 Sarah died in Kiriath-arba(that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

3 Then Abraham stood up before his dead [wife’s body], and spoke to thesons of Heth (Hittites), saying,

4 “I am a stranger and a sojourner (resident alien) among you; give (sell) me property for a burial place among you so that I may bury my dead [in the proper manner].”

5 The Hittites replied to Abraham,

6 “Listen to us, my lord; you are a prince of God [a mighty prince] among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our graves; none of us will refuse you his graveorhinder you from burying your dead [wife].”

7 So Abraham stood up and bowed to the people of the land, the Hittites.

8 And Abraham said to them, “If you are willing to grant my dead a [proper] burial, listen to me, and plead with Ephron the son of Zohar for me,

9 so that he may give (sell) me the cave of Machpelah which he owns–it is at the end of his field; let him give it to me here in your presence for the full price as a burial site [which I may keep forever among you].”

10 Now Ephron was present there among the sons of Heth; so within the hearing of all the sons of Heth and all who were entering the gate of his city, Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham, saying,

11 “No, my lord, hear me; Igive you the [entire] field, and I also give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the men of my people I give (sell) it to you; bury your dead [there].”

12 Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land.

13 He said to Ephron in the presence of the people of the land, “If you will only please listen to meandaccept my offer. I will give you the price of the field; accept it from me and I will bury my dead there.”

14 Ephron replied to Abraham,

15 “My lord, listen to me. The land [you seek] is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that between you and me? So bury your dead.”

16 So Abraham listened to Ephron [and agreed to his terms]; and he weighed out for Ephron the [amount of] silver which he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.

17 So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre (Hebron)–the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field and in all its borders around it–were deeded over [legally]

18 to Abraham as his possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who were entering at the gate of his city.

19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field ofMachpelah to the east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

20 The field and the cave in it were deeded over to Abraham by the Hittites as a [permanent] possessionandburial place.

A Bride for Isaac

1 Now Abraham was old, [well] advanced in age; and the Lordhad blessed Abraham in all things.

2 Abraham said to his servant [Eliezer of Damascus], the oldest of his household, who had charge over all that Abraham owned, “Please, put your hand under my thigh [as is customary for affirming a solemn oath],

3 and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live,

4 but you will [instead] go to my [former] country (Mesopotamia) and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac [the heir of the covenant promise].”

5 The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman will not be willing to follow me back to this country; should I take your son back to the country from which you came?”

6 Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there!

7 The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house, from the land of my familyandmy birth, who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give this land’–He will send His angel before you [to guide you], and you will take a wife from there for my son [and bring her here].

8 If the woman is not willing to follow you [to this land], then you will be free from this my oathandblameless; only you must never take my son back there.”

9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels, and set out, taking some of his master’s good things with him; so he got up and journeyed toMesopotamia [between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers], to the city of Nahor [the home of Abraham’s brother].

11 He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of the evening when women go out to draw water.

12 And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness (faithfulness) to my master Abraham.

13 Behold, I stand here at the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water;

14 now let it be that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please, let down your jar so that I may [have a] drink,’ and she replies, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels water to drink’–may shebe the onewhom You have selected [as a wife] for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness (faithfulness) to my master.”

Rebekah Is Chosen

15 Before Eliezer had finished speaking (praying), Rebekah came out with her [water] jar on her shoulder. Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel theson of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.

16 The girl was very beautiful, a virgin and unmarried; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.

17 Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar.”

18 And she said, “Drink, my lord”; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink.

19 When she had given Eliezer a drink, she said, “I will also draw water for your camels until they have finished drinking.”

20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran again to the well and drew water for all his camels.

21 Meanwhile, the man stood gazing at Rebekah in [reverent] silence, [waiting] to know if the Lordhad made his trip successful or not.

22 When the camels had finished drinking, Eliezer took a gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her hands weighing ten shekels in gold,

23 and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge?”

24 And she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah’s son, whom she bore to [her husband] Nahor.”

25 Again she said to him, “We have plenty of both straw and feed, and also room to lodge.”

26 The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord.

27 He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not denied His lovingkindness and His truth to my master. As for me, the Lordled me to the house of my master’s brothers.”

28 Then the girl ran and told her mother’s household what had happened.

29 Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran out to the man at the well.

30 When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and when he heard Rebekah his sister, saying, “The man said this to me,” he went to Eliezer and found him standing by the camels at the spring.

31 And Laban said, “Come in, blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside since I have made the house ready and have prepared a place for the camels?”

32 So the man came into the house, and Laban unloaded his camels and gave them straw and feed, and [he gave] water to [Eliezer to] wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

33 But when food was set before him, he said, “I will not eat until I have stated my business.” And Laban said, “Speak on.”

34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant.

35 The Lordhas greatly blessed my master, and he has become great (wealthy, powerful); He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys.

36 Now Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was in her old age, and he has given everything that he has to him.

37 My master made me swear [an oath], saying, ‘You must not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live;

38 but you shall [instead] go to my father’s house and to my family and take a wife for my son [Isaac].’

39 Then I said to my master, ‘But suppose the woman will not follow me [back to this land].’

40 He said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I walk [habitually and obediently], will send His angel with you to make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father’s house;

41 then you will be free of my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give her to you, you will [also] be free of my oath.’

42 “I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go successful;

43 please look, I am standing by the spring of water; now let it be that when the maiden [whom You have chosen for Isaac] comes out to draw [water], and to whom I say, “Please, give me a little water to drink from your jar”;

44 and if she says to me, “You drink, and I will also draw [water] for your camels”; let that woman be the one whom the Lordhas selectedandchosen [as a wife] for my master’s son.’

45 “Before I had finished praying in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her [water] jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please, let me have a drink.’

46 And she quickly let down her jar from hershoulder,and said, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels’; so I drank, and she also watered the camels.

47 Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him’; and Iput the ring in her nose, and the bracelets on her arms.

48 And I bowed down my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take the daughter of my master’s brother to his son [as a wife].

49 So now if you are going to show kindness and truth to my master [being faithful to him], tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right or to the left [and go on my way].”

50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “The matter has come from the Lord; so we dare not speak bad or good [to you about it–we cannot interfere].

51 Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lordhas spoken.”

52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the ground [in worship] before the Lord.

53 Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and articles of clothing, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and her mother.

54 Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night [there]. In the morning when they got up, he said, “Now send me back to my master.”

55 But Rebekah’s brother and mother said, “Let the girl stay with us a few days–at least ten; then she may go.”

56 But Eliezer said to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lordhas prospered my way. Send me away, so that I may go back to my master.”

57 And they said, “We will call the girl and ask herwhat she prefers.”

58 So they called Rebekah and said, “Will you go with this man?” And she answered, “I will go.”

59 So they sent off their sister Rebekah and her nurse [Deborah, as her attendant] and Abraham’s servant [Eliezer] and his men.

60 They blessed Rebekah and said to her,

“May you, our sister,

Become [the mother of] thousands of ten thousands,

And may your descendants possess (conquer)

The [city] gate of those who hate them.”

61 Then Rebekah and her attendantsstood, and they mounted camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and went on his way.

Isaac Marries Rebekah

62 Now Isaac had returned from going to Beer-lahai-roi (Well of the Living One Who Sees Me), for he was living in theNegev.

63 Isaac went out to bow down [in prayer] in the field in the [early] evening; he raised his eyes and looked, and camels were coming.

64 Rebekah also raised her eyesandlooked, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from her camel.

65 She said to the servant, “Who is that man there walking across the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “He is my master [Isaac].” So she took a veil and covered herself [as was customary].

66 The servant told Isaac everything that he had done.

67 Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah [in marriage], and she became his wife, and he loved her; therefore Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

Abraham’s Death

1 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.

2 She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.

4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah.

5 Now Abraham gaveeverything that he had to Isaac;

6 but to the sons of hisconcubines [Hagar and Keturah], Abraham gave gifts while he was still living and he sent them to the east country, away from Isaac his son [of promise].

7 The days of Abraham’s life were a hundred and seventy-five years.

8 Then Abraham breathed his last and he died at a good old age, an old man who was satisfied [with life]; and hewas gathered to his people [who had preceded him in death].

9 So his sonsIsaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is east of Mamre,

10 the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife.

11 Now after the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac lived at Beer-lahai-roi.

Descendants of Ishmael

12 Nowthese arethe records ofthe descendants of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham;

13 and these are the names of the [twelve] sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their births: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,

14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa,

15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their settlements, and by their encampments (sheepfolds); twelve princes (sheiks) according to their tribes.

17 Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years; then he breathed his last and died, andwas gathered to his people [who had preceded him in death].

18 Ishmael’s sons (descendants) settled from Havilah to Shur which iseast of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria; hesettledopposite (east) of all his relatives.

Isaac’s Sons

19 Now these arethe records ofthe descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham was the father of Isaac.

20 Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean (Syrian) of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean.

21 Isaac prayed to the Lordfor his wife, because she was unable to conceive children; and the Lordgranted his prayer and Rebekah his wife conceived [twins].

22 But the children struggled together within her [kicking and shoving one another]; and she said, “If it is so [that the Lordhas heard our prayer], why then am Ithis way?”So she went to inquire of the Lord[praying for an answer].

23 The Lordsaid to her,

“[The founders of] two nations are in your womb;

And the separation of two nations has begun in your body;

The one people shall be stronger than the other;

And the older shall serve the younger.”

24 When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

25 The first came out reddish all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau (hairy).

26 Afterward his brother came out, and his hand grasped Esau’s heel, so he was named Jacob (one who grabs by the heel, supplanter). Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

27 When the boys grew up, Esau was an ableandskilled hunter, a man of the outdoors, but Jacob was a quietandpeaceful man, living in tents.

28 Now Isaac loved [and favored] Esau, becausehe enjoyed eating his game, but Rebekah loved [and favored] Jacob.

29 Jacob had cooked [reddish-brown lentil] stew [one day], when Esau came from the field and was famished;

30 and Esau said to Jacob, “Please, let me have a quick swallow of that red stuff there, because I am exhaustedandfamished.” For that reason Esau was [also] called Edom (Red).

31 Jacob answered, “First sell me yourbirthright (the rights of a firstborn).”

32 Esau said, “Look, I am about to die [if I do not eat soon]; so of what use is this birthright to me?”

33 Jacob said, “Swear [an oath] to me today [that you are selling it to me for this food]”; so he swore [an oath] to him, and sold him his birthright.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and got up and went on his way. In this way Esau scorned his birthright.

Isaac Settles in Gerar

1 Now there was a famine in the land [of Canaan], besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, toAbimelech king of the Philistines.

2 The Lordappeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I will tell you.

3 Live temporarily [as a resident] in this land and I will be with you and will blessandfavor you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will establishandcarry out the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.

4 I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of the heavens, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,

5 because Abraham listened toandobeyed My voice and [consistently] kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

7 The men of the place asked him about his wife, and he said, “She is mysister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife”–thinking, “the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, since she is very beautiful.”

8 It happened when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaaccaressing Rebekah his wife.

9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “See here, Rebekah is in fact your wife! How did you [dare to] say to me, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I thought I might be killed because of her [desirability].”

10 Abimelech said, “What is this that you have done to us? One of the men [among our people] might easily have been intimate with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us [before God].”

11 Then Abimelech commanded all his people, “Whoever touches this man [Isaac] or his wife [Rebekah] shall without exception be put to death.”

12 Then Isaac planted [seed] in that land [as a farmer] and reaped in the same year a hundred times [as much as he had planted], and the Lordblessedandfavored him.

13 And the man [Isaac] became great and gained more and more until he became very wealthyandextremely distinguished;

14 he owned flocks and herds and a great household [with a number of servants], and the Philistines envied him.

15 Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with dirt.

16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from here, because you are far too powerful for us.”

17 So Isaac left that region and camped in the Valley of Gerar, and settled there.

Quarrel over the Wells

18 Now Isaac again dug [and reopened] the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, because the Philistines had filled them up [with dirt] after the death of Abraham; and he gave the wells the same names that his father had given them.

19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing [spring] water,

20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours!” So Isaac named the well Esek (quarreling), because they quarreled with him.

21 Then his servants dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so Isaac named it Sitnah (enmity).

22 He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over that one; so he named it Rehoboth (broad places), saying, “For now the Lordhas maderoom for us, and we shall beprosperous in the land.”

23 Then he went up from there to Beersheba.

24 The Lordappeared to him the same night and said,

“I am the God of Abraham your father;

Do not be afraid, for I am with you.

I will blessandfavor you, and multiply your descendants,

For the sake of My servant Abraham.”

25 So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord[in prayer]. He pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

Covenant with Abimelech

26 Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, his [close friend and confidential] adviser, and Phicol, the commander of his army.

27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you [people] come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”

28 They said, “We see clearly that the Lordhas been with you; so we said, ‘There should now be an oath between us [with a curse for the one who breaks it], that is, between you and us, and let us make a covenant (binding agreement, solemn promise) with you,

29 that you will not harm us, just as we have not touched you and have done nothing but good to you and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessedandfavored of the Lord!’”

30 Then Isaac held a [formal] banquet (covenant feast) for them, and they ate and drank.

31 They got up early in the morning and swore oaths [pledging to do nothing but good to each other]; and Isaac sent them on their way and they left him in peace.

32 Now on the same day, Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug, saying, “We have found water.”

33 So he named the wellShibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

34 When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite as his wives;

35 and they were asource of grief to [Esau’s parents] Isaac and Rebekah.

Jacob’s Deception

1 Now when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, he called his elder [and favorite] son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And Esau answered him, “Here I am.”

2 Isaac said, “See here, I am old;I do not knowwhen I may die.

3 So now, please take your [hunting] gear, your quiver [of arrows] and your bow, and go out into the open country and hunt game for me;

4 and make me a savoryanddelicious dish [of meat], the kind I love, and bring it to me to eat, so that my soul may bless you [as my firstborn son] before I die.”

5 But Rebekah overheard what Isaac said to Esau his son; and when Esau had gone to the open country to hunt for game that he might bring back,

6 Rebekah said to Jacob her [younger and favorite] son, “Listen carefully: I heard your father saying to Esau your brother,

7 ‘Bring me some game and make me a savoryanddelicious dish [of meat], so that I may eat it, and declare my blessing on youin the presence of the Lordbefore my death.’

8 So now, my son, listen [carefully] to me [and do exactly] as I command you.

9 Go now to the flock and bring me two goodandsuitable young goats, and I will make them into a savory dish [of meat] for your father, the kind he loves [to eat].

10 Then you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”

11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Listen, Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth [skinned] man.

12 Suppose my father touches meandfeels my skin; then I will be seen by him as a cheat (imposter), and I will bring his curse on me and not a blessing.”

13 But his mother said to him, “May your curse be on me, my son; only listenandobey me, and go, bring the young goats to me.”

14 So Jacob went and got the two young goats, and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared a deliciousdish offood [with a delightful aroma], the kind his father loved [to eat].

15 Then Rebekah took her elder son Esau’s best clothes, which were with her in her house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.

16 And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

17 Then she gave her son Jacob the delicious meat and the bread which she had prepared.

18 So he went to his father and said, “My father.” And Isaac said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”

19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done what you told me to do. Now please, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may bless me.”

20 Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found the game so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the Lordyour God caused it to come to me.”

21 But Isaac [wondered and] said to Jacob, “Please come close [to me] so that I may touch you, my son,anddetermine if you are really my son Esau or not.”

22 So Jacob approached Isaac, and his father touched him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

23 He could not recognize him [as Jacob], because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.

24 But he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” Jacob answered, “I am.”

25 Then Isaac said, “Bring the food to me, and I will eat some of my son’s game, so that I may bless you.” He brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine and he drank.

26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come, my son, and kiss me.”

27 So he came and kissed him; and Isaac smelled his clothing and blessed him and said,

“The scent of my son [Esau]

Is like the aroma of a field which the Lordhas blessed;

28 Now may God give you of the dew of heaven [to water your land],

And of the fatness (fertility) of the earth,

And an abundance of grain andnew wine;

29 May peoples serve you,

And nations bow down to you;

Be lordandmaster over your brothers,

And may your mother’s sons bow down to you.

May those who curse you be cursed,

And may those who bless you be blessed.”

The Stolen Blessing

30 Now as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

31 Esau also made a delicious dish [of meat] and brought it to his father and said to him, “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.”

32 Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” And he replied, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”

33 Then Isaac trembled violently, and he said, “Then who was the one [who was just here] who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I blessed him. Yes, and he [in fact] shall be (shall remain) blessed.”

34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with a great and extremely bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”

35 Isaac said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has [fraudulently] taken away your blessing [for himself].”

36 Esau replied, “Is he not rightly namedJacob (the supplanter)? For he has supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing. Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

37 But Isaac replied to Esau, “Listen carefully: I have made Jacob your lordandmaster; I have given him all his brothersandrelatives as servants; and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then, can I do for you, my son?”

38 Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” Then Esau [no longer able to restrain himself] raised his voice and wept [loudly].

39 Then Isaac his father answered and [prophesied and] said to him,

“Your dwelling shall be away from the fertility of the earth

And away from the dew of heaven above;

40 But you shall live by your sword,

And serve your brother;

However it shall come to pass when you break loose [from your anger and hatred],

That you will tear his yoke off your neck [and you will be free of him].”

41 So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him; and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are very near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

42 When these words of her elder son Esau were repeated to Rebekah, she sent for Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Listen carefully, your brother Esau is comforting himself concerning youby planningto kill you.

43 So now, my son, listenanddo what I say; go, escape to my brother Laban in Haran!

44 Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s anger subsides.

45 When your brother’s anger toward you subsides and he forgets what you did to him, thenI will send and bring you back from there. Why should I be deprived of you both in a single day?”

46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth [these insolent wives of Esau]. If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

Jacob Is Sent Away

1 So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said to him, “You shall not marry one of the women of Canaan.

2 Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take from there as a wife for yourself one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.

3 MayGod Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a [great] company of peoples.

4 May He also give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the [promised] land of your sojournings, which He gave to Abraham.”

5 Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6 Now Esau noticed that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to take a wife for himself from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a prohibition, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,”

7 and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram.

8 So Esau realized that [his two wives] the daughters of Canaan displeased Isaac his father;

9 and [to appease his parents] Esau went to [the family of] Ishmael and took as his wife, in addition to the wives he [already] had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth [Ishmael’s firstborn son].

Jacob’s Dream

10 Now Jacob left Beersheba [never to see his mother again] and traveled toward Haran.

11 And he came to a certain place and stayed overnight there because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down there [to sleep].

12 He dreamed that there was a ladder (stairway) placed on the earth, and the top of it reached [out of sight] toward heaven; and [he saw] the angels of God ascending and descending on it [going to and from heaven].

13 And behold, the Lordstood aboveandaround him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your [father’s] father and the God of Isaac; I will give to you and to your descendants the land [of promise] on which you are lying.

14 Your descendants shall be as [countless as] the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and the east and the north and the south; and all the families (nations) of the earth shall be blessed through you and yourdescendants.

15 Behold, I am with you and will keep [careful watch over you and guard] you wherever you may go, and I will bring you back to this [promised] land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and he said, “Without any doubt the Lordis in this place, and I did not realize it.”

17 So he was afraid and said, “How fearfulandawesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gateway to heaven.”

18 So Jacob got up early in the morning, and took the stone he had put under his head and he set it up as a pillar [that is, a monument to the vision in his dream], and he poured [olive] oil on the top of it [toconsecrate it].

19 He named that place Bethel (the house of God); the previous name of that city was Luz (Almond Tree).

20 Then Jacob made a vow (promise), saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and clothing to wear,

21 and if [He grants that] I return to my father’s house in safety, then the Lordwill be my God.

22 This stone which I have set up as a pillar (monument, memorial) will be God’s house [a sacred place to me], and of everything that You give me I will give the tenth to You [as an offering to signify my gratitude and dependence on You].”

Jacob Meets Rachel

1 Then Jacobwent on his way and came to the land of the people of the East [near Haran].

2 As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and three flocks of sheep lying there [resting] beside it because the flocks were watered from that well. Now the stone on the mouth of the well [that covered and protected it] was large,

3 and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well, water the sheep, and [afterward] replace the stone on the mouth of the well.

4 Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.”

5 So he said to them, “Do you know Laban the grandson of Nahor [Abraham’s brother]?” And they replied, “We know him.”

6 And he asked them, “Is it well with him?” And they said, “He is doing well; look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep!”

7 Jacob said, “Look, the sun is still high [overhead]; it is a long time before the flocks need to be gathered [in their folds for the night]. Water the sheep, and go, and return them to their pasture.”

8 But they said, “We cannot [leave] until all the flocks are gathered together, and the shepherds roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we will water the sheep.”

9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess.

10 When Jacob saw [his cousin] Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and Laban’s sheep, he came up and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban, his uncle.

11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel [in greeting], and he raised his voice and wept.

12 Jacob told Rachel he was her father’s relative, Rebekah’s son; and she ran and told her father.

13 When Laban heard of the arrival of Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and embraced and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he told Laban all these things.

14 Then Laban said to him, “You are my bone and my flesh.” And Jacob stayed with him a month.

15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Just because you are my relative, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?”

16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.

17 Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.

18 Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you [as a hired workman] for seven years [in return] for [the privilege of marrying] Rachel your younger daughter.”

19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her [in marriage] to you than give her to another man. Stayandwork with me.”

20 So Jacob served [Laban] for seven years for [the right to marry] Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

Laban’s Treachery

21 Finally, Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time [of service] is completed, so that I may take her to me [as my wife].”

22 So Laban gathered together all the men of the place and prepared a [wedding]feast [with wine].

23 But in the evening he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob, and Jacobwent in to [consummate the marriage with] her.

24 Laban also gave Zilpah his maid to his daughter Leah as a maid.

25 But in the morning [when Jacob awoke], it was Leah [who was with him]! And he said to Laban, “What is this that you have done to me? Did I not work for you [for seven years] for Rachel? Why have you deceivedandbetrayed me [like this]?”

26 But Laban only said, “It is notthe tradition here to give the younger [daughter in marriage] before the older.

27 Finish the week [of the wedding feast] for Leah; then we will give you Rachel also, and in return you shall work for me for seven more years.”

28 So Jacob complied and fulfilled Leah’s week [of celebration]; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his [second] wife.

29 Laban also gave Bilhah his maid to his daughter Rachel as a maid.

30 So Jacob consummated his marriageandlived with Rachel [as his wife], and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.

31 Now when the Lordsaw that Leah was unloved, Hemade her able to bear children, but Rachel was barren.

32 Leah conceived and gave birth to a son and named him Reuben (See, a son!), for she said, “Because the Lordhas seen my humiliationandsuffering; now my husband will love me [since I have given him a son].”

33 Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son and said, “Because the Lordheard that I am unloved, He has given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon (God hears).

34 She conceived again and gave birth to a son and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me [as a companion], for I have given him three sons.” Therefore he was namedLevi.

35 Again she conceived and gave birth to a [fourth] son, and she said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” So she named himJudah; then [for a time] she stopped bearing [children].

The Sons of Jacob

1 When Rachel saw that she conceived no children for Jacob, she envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I will die.”

2 Then Jacob became furious with Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has denied you children?”

3 She said, “Here, take my maid Bilhah and go in to her; and [when the baby comes] she shalldeliver it [while sitting] on my knees, so that by her I may also have children [to count as my own].”

4 So she gave him Bilhah her maid as a [secondary] wife, and Jacob went in to her.

5 Bilhah conceived and gave birth to a son for Jacob.

6 Then Rachel said, “God has judgedandvindicated me, and has heard my plea and has given me a son [through my maid].” So she named him Dan (He judged).

7 Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, conceived again and gave birth to a second son for Jacob.

8 So Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings [in prayer to God] I have struggled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she named him Naphtali (my wrestlings).

9 When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing [children], she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as a [secondary] wife.

10 Zilpah, Leah’s maid, gave birth to a son for Jacob.

11 Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad (good fortune).

12 Zilpah, Leah’s maid, gave birth to a second son for Jacob.

13 Then Leah said, “I am happy! For women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher (happy).

14 Now at the time of wheat harvest Reuben [the eldest child] went and found somemandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

15 But Leah answered, “Is it a small thing that you have taken my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Jacob shall sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”

16 When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep with me [tonight], for I have in fact hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.

17 God listenedandanswered [the prayer of] Leah, and she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob.

18 Then Leah said, “God has given me my reward because I have given my maid to my husband.” So she named himIssachar.

19 Leah conceived again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob.

20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good [marriage] gift [for my husband]; now he will live with me [regarding me with honor as his wife], because I have given birth to six sons.” So she named himZebulun.

21 Afterward she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

22 Then God remembered [the prayers of] Rachel, and God thought of her and opened her womb [so that she would conceive].

23 So she conceived and gave birth to a son; and she said, “God has taken away my disgraceandhumiliation.”

24 She named him Joseph (may He add) and said, “May the Lordadd to me another son.”

Jacob Prospers

25 Now when Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go back to my own place and to my own country.

26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know the work which I have done for you.”

27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight,stay with me;for I have learned [from the omens in divination and by experience] that the Lordhas blessed me because of you.”

28 He said, “Name your wages, and I will give it [to you].”

29 Jacob answered him, “You know how I have served you and how your possessions, your cattleandsheepandgoats, have fared with me.

30 For you had little before I came and it has increasedandmultiplied abundantly, and the Lordhas favored you with blessings wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household?”

31 Laban asked, “What shall I give you?” Jacob replied, “You shall not give me anything. But if you will do this one thing for me [which I now propose], I will again pasture and keep your flock:

32 Let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every darkorblack one among the lambs and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and those shall be my wages.

33 So my honesty will be evident for me later, when you come [for an accounting] concerning my wages. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and dark among the young lambs,if foundwith me, shall be considered stolen.”

34 And Laban said, “Good! Let it be done as you say.”

35 So on that same day Laban [secretly] removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one with white on it, and all the dark ones among the sheep, and put them in the care of his sons.

36 And he put [a distance of] three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob was then left in care of the rest of Laban’s flock.

37 Then Jacob took branches of fresh poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white in the branches.

38 Then he set the branches which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink; and they matedandconceived when they came to drink.

39 So the flocks matedandconceived by the branches, and the flocksgave birth to streaked, speckled, and spotted offspring.

40 Jacob separated the lambs, and [as he had done with the peeled branches] he made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the darkorblack in the [new] flock of Laban; and he put his own herds apart by themselves and did not put them [where they could breed] with Laban’s flock.

41 Furthermore, whenever the stronger [animals] of the flocks were breeding, Jacob would place the branches in the sight of the flock in the watering troughs, so that they would mateandconceive among the branches;

42 but when the flock was sickly, he did not putthe branchesthere; so the sicker [animals] were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s.

43 So Jacob became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks [of sheep and goats], and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

Jacob Leaves Secretly for Canaan

1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying: “Jacob has taken away everything that was our father’s, and from what belonged to our father he has acquired all this wealthandhonor.”

2 Jacob noticed [a change in] theattitude of Laban, and saw that it was notfriendlytoward him as before.

3 Then the Lordsaid to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your people, and I will be with you.”

4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to his flock in the field,

5 and he said to them, “I see [a change in] your father’s attitude, that he is notfriendlytoward me as [he was] before; but the God of my father [Isaac] has been with me.

6 You know that I have served your father with all my strength.

7 Yet your father has cheated me [as often as possible] and changed my wages ten times; but God did not allow him to hurt me.

8 If he said, ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then the entire flock gave birth to speckled [young]; and if he said, ‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then the entire flock gave birth to streaked [young].

9 Thus God has taken away the flocks of your father and given them to me.

10 And it happened at the time when the flock conceived that I looked up and saw in a dream that the rams which mated [with the female goats] were streaked, speckled, and spotted.

11 And theAngel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’

12 He said, ‘Look up and see, all the rams which are mating [with the flock] are streaked, speckled, and spotted; for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.

13 ~‘I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar, and where you made a vow to Me; now stand up, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth.’”

14 Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?

15 Are we not counted by him as foreigners? For he sold us [to you in marriage], and has also entirely used up our purchase price.

16 Surely all the riches which God has taken from our father are ours and our children’s. Now then, whatever God has told you to do, do it.”

17 Then Jacob stood [and took action] and put his children and his wives on camels;

18 and he drove away all his livestock and [took along] all his property which he had acquired, the livestock he had obtained and accumulated in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.

19 When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel [went inside the house and] stole her father’shousehold gods.

20 And Jacobdeceived Laban the Aramean (Syrian) by not telling him that he intended to leaveandhe slipped away secretly.

21 So he fled with everything that he had, and got up and crossed the river [Euphrates], and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead [east of the Jordan River].

Laban Pursues Jacob

22 On the third day [after his departure] Laban was told that Jacob had fled.

23 So he took his relatives with him and pursued him for seven days, and they overtook him in the hill country of Gilead.

24 God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob, either good or bad.”

25 Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent on the hill, and Laban with his relatives camped on the same hill of Gilead.

26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What do you mean by deceiving meandleaving without my knowledge, and carrying off my daughters as if [they were] captives of the sword?

27 Why did you run away secretly and deceive me and not tell me, so that [otherwise] I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with [music on the] tambourine and lyre?

28 And why did you not allow me to kiss mygrandchildren and my daughters [goodbye]? Now you have done a foolish thing [in behaving like this].

29 It is in my power to harm you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to speak to Jacob, either good or bad.’

30 Now [I suppose] you felt you must go because youwere homesick for your father’s houseandfamily; but why did you steal my [household]gods?”

31 Jacob answered Laban, “[I left secretly] because I was afraid, for I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force.

32 The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our relatives [search my possessions and] point out whatever you find that belongs to you and take it.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols.

33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. Then he came out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent.

34 Now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the camel’s saddlebag and sat on them. Laban searched through all her tent, but did not find them.

35 So Rachel said to her father, “Do not be displeased, my lord, that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is on meandI am unwell.” He searched [further] but did not find the household idols.

36 Then Jacob became angry and argued with Laban. And he said to Laban, “What is my fault? What is my sin that you pursued me like this?

37 Although you have searched through all my possessions, what have you found of your household goods? Put it here before my relatives and your relatives, so that they may decide [who has done right] between the two of us.

38 These twenty years Ihave beenwith you; your ewes and your female goats have not lost their young, nor have I eaten the rams of your flocks.

39 I did not bring you the torn carcasses [of the animals attacked by predators]; I [personally] took the loss. You required of me [to make good] everything that was stolen, whether it occurred by day or night.

40 This was my situation: by day the heat consumed me and by night the cold, andI could not sleep.

41 These twenty years I have been in your house; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for [my share of] your flocks, and you havechanged my wages ten times.

42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and [the Feared One] of Isaac, had not been with me, most certainly you would have sent me away now empty-handed. God has seen my afflictionandhumiliation and the [exhausting] labor of my hands, so He rendered judgmentandrebuked you last night.”

The Covenant of Mizpah

43 Laban answered Jacob, “Thesewomen [that you married] are my daughters, these children are mygrandchildren, these flocks are [from] my flocks, and all that you see [here] is mine. But what can I do today to these my daughters or to their children to whom they have given birth?

44 So come now, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between you and me.”

45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a [memorial] pillar.

46 Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a mound [of stones], and they ate [a ceremonial meal together] there on the mound [of stones].

47 Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha (stone monument of testimony inAramaic), but Jacob called itGaleed.

48 Laban said, “This mound [of stones] is a witness [a reminder of the oath taken] today between you and me.” Therefore he [also] called the name Galeed,

49 and Mizpah (watchtower), for Laban said, “May the Lordwatch between you and me when we are absent from one another.

50 If you should mistreat (humiliate, oppress) my daughters, or if you should take other wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us [as a witness], seeandremember, God is witness between you and me.”

51 Laban said to Jacob, “Look at this mound [of stones] and look at this pillar which I have set up between you and me.

52 This mound is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass by this mound to harm you, and that you will not pass by this mound and this pillar to harm me.

53 The God of Abraham [your father] and the God of Nahor [my father], and thegod [the image of worship] of their father [Terah, an idolater], judge between us.” But Jacob swore [only] by [the one true God] the Fear of his father Isaac.

54 Then Jacob offered a sacrifice [to the Lord] on the mountain, and called his relatives to the meal; and they ate food and spent the night on the mountain.

55 Early in the morning Laban got up and kissed hisgrandchildren and his daughters [goodbye] and pronounced a blessing [asking God’s favor] on them. Then Laban left and returned home.